Shopify stands steady

Earlier this month, Shopify, one of the world's most visible online shopping platforms, found itself in a bit of a quandary. This was due to them hosting Breitbart News Network's online store the same way they had hosted so many other online stores. Customers are pulling out and Shopify is facing pressure from activist groups to cease doing business with Breitbart by way of the #DeleteShopify campaign. Even internal staff are voicing their concerns at the company being associated with Breitbart.

Some background

Breitbart News Network is an Alt-right site that plays host to very unpopular opinions, such as how climate change is fake, how President Trump will be a great President, how women in tech suck at interviews and should stop blaming sexism for their lack of success...

And their online store features inflammatory merchandise like this. Admittedly, that's pretty offensive to certain people.

In the wake of the 2016 US Presidential Elections, the USA has been hugely divided. Hardly a day goes by without some unsavory news about Trump being published, along with the inevitable moral outrage. This has led to Shopify being pressured to discontinue their association with Breitbart. Kind of alarming when you consider that Shopify, as a business, isn't even based in the USA - it's based in Canada.

What do I think?

I think it's sad. No, scratch that. I think it's a goddamn tragedy. I've always thought that tech existed to serve people. The bits and bytes don't care what color you are, what gender, what sexual orientation, and most pertinently, what your political affiliations are. As long as what you do is within the bounds of the law in the country you are operating in and do not contradict the company's mission statement, tech serves you merrily with neither fear nor favor. Self-righteous zealots, in their frantic fervor, in their intolerance towards all things Trump and all things even tangentially connected to Trump, are threatening to subvert that.

I don't have a particularly high opinion of Donald Trump. For that matter, I'm not especially fond of Shopify either. As for Breitbart, they don't have a leg to stand on where boycotts are concerned, not if you look at the one they orchestrated last year against Kellog's.

But, my personal biases aside, this is abhorrent. I can handle Shopify's customers leaving if they don't want to be associated with a platform that also serves Breitbart. I don't mind Shopify's employees leaving if they no longer feel comfortable working for a company that serves Breitbart. They are all well and truly within their rights. What irks me is the attempt to browbeat the company into giving in to the noisy demands of this rabid mob.

Bullying is bullying. And the fact that it's meant to hurt an even bigger bully, does not make it right.

Shopify's response so far

I'm heartened to report that Shopify is sticking to its guns. Amazon and Facebook have faced similar pressure, but aren't backing down - for the moment, anyway. Then again, Amazon and Facebook are the big boys. Shopify, in comparison, is the new kid on the block.

CEO Tobias Lütke has been unequivocal in his commitment to continue serving Breitbart News Network despite claiming to dislike it, and I applaud that. Because if you give in to that baying mob even once, where does it end? Tech platforms should be free to serve without being forced to take sides. Tech is about logic. We don't deal in feelings.

Way to go, activists. What a Breit idea.
T___T